New Zealand-based environmental policy analyst Owen McShane passed away last week, and the world will miss his insight and determined attempt to recast urban planning and natural resource management in a more market and private property rights friendly paradigm. Most recently, Owen was head of the Centre for Resource Management Studies in New Zealand although I first met him when he introduced himself and his work to me while I was establishing Reason Foundation’s land use program more than a decade ago. I deeply appreciated Owen’s insights as well as his practical approach to resource management and policy. Many of his studies, reports, and columns can still be found on the Centre’s web site.

Samuel R. Staley, Ph.D. is a senior research fellow at Reason Foundation and managing director of the DeVoe L. Moore Center at Florida State University in Tallahassee where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in urban planning, regulation, and urban economics. Prior to joining Florida State, Staley was director of urban growth and land-use policy for Reason Foundation where he helped establish its urban policy program in 1997.